HF The History of Photography 600pág

5 I 8 Some applications of photography
Fig 68
Pl 315
Radiographical examination followed almost immediate! y: early in I 896 a
Viennese physician detected a gallstone. One of the earliest diagnoses in Great Britain
was the detection of part of a needle in a woman's finger, which was operated on at
the Royal Free Hospital, London, at the beginning of March I 896.
Gradually other uses of X-rays were introduced: the detection of flaws in metal,
the examination of paintings, and in crystallography.
Apart from these serious uses, X-rays were in the early days an entertainment.
Apparatus was installed in many a popular exhibition, such as one at the Crystal
Palace. A favourite demonstration subject was a hand wearing jewellery, or a purse
containing coins.